Best quality recordable DVDs?

**Tea** · 2012-04-10 11:20

Hi All

What brand is best for recordable dvds??

Thanks

**Medico** · 2012-04-10 16:08

My latest bunch were TDK's, but I have used Memorx and Sony's and others. Most of the well know brands have worked well for me.

**Tea** · 2012-04-10 16:40

Thank you Ted

There are so many brand names almost like buying toilet paper!

**Medico** · 2012-04-10 16:47

Don't I know. I try to stick with the well know brands. The ones you hear about all the time. I suppose everyone has there favorites. my favorites are what's on sale!

**Tea** · 2012-04-10 17:30

aaaaah yes! Online shopping is a sale-athon!

**Paul T** · 2012-04-11 00:34

Recorded DVDs are not long term storage. You should get a few years out of them but it is worth testing them regularly if you want to keep them for any length of time - also worth having two copies for the day one causes problems.

cheers, Paul

***JoeP517*** · 2012-04-11 08:46

Tiayo Yuden used to be the gold standard for quality media. I don't know if they still are. I have not seen any recent articles about media reliability.

Joe

**Tea** · 2012-04-11 08:58

thanks for the suggestion Joe

**CLiNT** · 2012-04-11 16:25

Most of your popular brand names will do just fine provided they are handled and stored properly.

The X Lab: Optical media longevity
National Archives: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Optical Storage Media: Storing Temporary Records on CDs and DVDs
Library and Archives Canada: Guidelines for Physical Digital Storage Media

OTHERS
http://www.archivemyphotos.org/type.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_7193273_store-dvd-discs.html
http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/media/longevity.htm
http://www.pctechguide.com/dvd/dvdr

**Tea** · 2012-04-11 16:51

Hi Clint! Kudos for the wealth of info. Did you sense that im not really a big fan of CDs/DVDs??

The info you have provided will definitely help me along my trek.

Ty Ty

**CLiNT** · 2012-04-16 04:04

I still use CD/DVD's for backup and probably always will. They are just one more option available for multiple types of backup and storage. The key here is "using more than one media type".

**scaisson** · 2012-04-26 05:51

For a long while back I did an experiment. I put various brands CDRs under 5-hour California sun (not in hot days, to eliminate heat as a cause).
Ultraviolet is a killer for CDR.
I also found that 'long life (20 year and more)' is a myth. CDR may last 5-7 years reliably in a home environment. Don't get me wrong, most can last over 10 years, but not reliably (if we talk in terms of backup reliability). I could even see the discoloration on some brands and on a few different chemical types. 20 years or more may only be in well controlled dark environemnt.
I now store important discs in thick paper envelope, and then in drawer. That is, totally dark and with least air dust/chemical exposure. My 2003 DVD+R is still good. I burn a DVDR copy every year, just in case.

I did not do under-the-sun experiment on DVD+/-R or DVDRW/CDRW. Did it only on CDR.

**scaisson** · 2012-04-26 06:02

A Tokyo friend suggests, for long life, put writable discs in sealed bags and then in freezer. Sealed bag is to against moisture when 'de-freezing', when you take the disc out of the freezer.
To me, temperature shock, expansion, contraction, may cause more reliability problem that its worth, if you take it out of the freezer too many times. For long storage, maybe my friend is right.

**gsteele531** · 2012-04-26 06:26

I was in the archival storage business from the time optical disk made its first appearance as ablative, tellurium trilayer technology on 12" diameter platters. My company had experience with every major vendor, over thousands of disks shipped to customers in banking, telecom, securities, defense, etc. Many lessons were learned the hard way. The highest quality media was made by Mitsui Petrochemical. Google Mitsui DVD or (better for capacity, but see below) Blu-Ray, to shop for vendors. They're expensive for everyday use, but for business or irreplaceable data, who cares what they cost? Gold has gone up as the economy has crashed, so the DVDs (not the Blu-Rays, which aren't Gold-based but are very high quality) are pricey. They use Gold on the DVDs (and their CDs) instead of Aluminum, so the reflective layer is not subject to oxidative degradation, which can happen if the lacquer overcoat is defective or the environment and physical handling are improper. Verbatim also has a less expensive Gold disk, but we didn't have great luck with Verbatim in the early days, so I can't vouch for them like I can for Mitsui. I've been to the Mitsui factory in Chiba; it's a real operation. I'm not in the business anymore, so I've no axe to grind.

A few issues: protect the disks with a good case - not stacked on a spindle after writing; keep them in a cool dry area. Don't bend them. Don't write on the disk - write on the jewel case and keep a printed record of what's where (felt-tip pen ink's solvent chemistry can degrade disks). Use multiple copies and keep one in a safety deposit box. Mitsui's accelerated life tests project life at 300 years. Keep in mind, however, that if you are storing large amounts of data, that managing many disks is labor- and record-keeping intensive; also, device obsolescence over time mandates migration of data to newer storage technologies, which is easier with, say, multiple external hard drives than with removable media. The ideal is archival safety net copies on good DVDs, with easily-transferred copies on hard drives. With Blu-Ray, of course, the higher capacity (25 - 50 GB, vs. 4.7 GB) reduces the media count significantly, but you need a Blu-Ray writer. As with all tradeoffs, do the math.

**mr.wire** · 2012-04-26 07:17

My best choices for DVD media has been these, in order of my preference:

Tiayo Yuden (recently bought by JVC)
Verbatim (produced by Ritek)
Sony

I buy the Tiayo Yuden through the internet. I get stacks of 100 at a time and never end up with a wasted coaster.

Verbatim can sometimes be found at a store like a Sam's Club or Costco. Maybe 1 or 2 will be a failed disk, maybe.

Sony is usually easier to find, often at a business supply store like a Office Max. Same failed disk count as above.

I normally prefer a clean face on a disk, no print or designs. That lets me write neatly with a Sharpie. Failure rate with a stack of cheap disks can be as much as 30 bad disks out of 100 meaning the initial copy process will fail. Then there is the shelf life of disks as well. Again there is a remarkable difference between very good and very cheap disks. The inferior disks can have another 30% failure rate after 2 years on the shelf. So some people will lose about half of what they were trying to save by buying cheap disks.

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